Don't put your good knives in the dishwasher, especially if they have wooden handles.
@JimLinebarger
Years ago I bought a set of decent but inexpensive Sabatiers (not the old manufactured ones but the more recent public domain ones) that came with a knife block to leave out on the counter. My good ones are kept in a drawer or high cabinet, away from my "Murphy," who has no concept of how to care for edged tools.
Buying a new knife? Wondering what is VG-10 steel? How do you hold a chef's knife? How do you clean one? How do you hone and sharpen a knife? Get incisive answers to these sharp questions and more in our ultimate guide to knives.
To add to what ComfortablyNumb said... (This is knowledge I have picked up over on kitchenknifeforums.com and is simplified.)
There are a number of ways to make a knife:
Forged - ya take a hunk of metal, heat it up, and pound into rough shape and grind it to final shape.
Stock removal - ya take a piece of metal roughly the correct thickness and grind it to shape. (This is what I'm learning to do.)
Laser cut - similar to stamped - ya just cut the blanks from a large sheet of metal with a laser, but you do have to grind them to the correct thickness.
Stamped - large sheets of metal are run through a machine that stamps out knives very close to the final shape, (including thickness).
The above are in roughly the cost order with hand forged being the most expensive. Machine forged should also be in the mix and would probably be after stock removal.
You can produce very good knives using any of these methods, and the same for not so good knives. So what makes a good knife? In no particular order, the steel, the blade geometry, the edge geometry, and the heat treatment.
What do you want in a good knife? (Again, simplified.)
You want one that stays sharp and is easy to sharpen. But those two things are opposed to each other. The harder the steel, the longer it will stay sharp, but the harder it is to sharpen. And the harder the steel, the easier it is to chip the blade. This is where the particular steel used comes in. There are literally hundreds, (if not thousands), of steels used for knives. And people who make knives each have their favorite steel. Some makers will include the steel they use in the info they give. but unless you know the steel, (or google it), that info doesn't do much good.
So, what to do? Pick your price range, and try to find a good knife in that range.
And damascus does not mean high quality, and may not really be damasucs, so please don't use that as a sign of quality or value.
So I followed Max's link above and read about knives, then I followed the link on that page to the Gunter Wilhelm page. They're having a Back to School sale. A lot of their stuff is 60-70% off. Do they price their knives like jewelry and never sell at list price, or are these good deals? And why would you need a chef's knife for school?
Meathead REALLY likes GW for all the reasons he detailed. He is not alone in this assessment. I don't have enough experience with them to address your pricing inquiry.
Now that you have a good set of knives get two or three good wooden cutting boards. A couple of smaller ones for veggies and other non=meat items thait you can flip over, mine are 12x16. And a large one to break down meat and that is also flappable, mine is 18x24. Don't use plastic and never glass. The wood ones will keep your knives sharper much longer. We have a couple of plastic ones that have been retired.
Well having used both types of boards and Wustof knives you all have a great week end.
Weber Performer, Weber Jumbo Joe, Weber Smokey Joe (which I made into a mini-WSM), Weber Q 120 (which I converted to a portable flat top griddle), Oklahoma Joe offset cabinet smoker, Lodge hibachi, Pitt Boss Tailgater
Maverick ET 733
Favorite Cook - Sausage, any kind of sausage!
A few years back I bought some Old Hickory knives at a garage sale, removed the scales (handles), made new handles from some tree limbs from our farm, ground and reshaped the blades, and gave them to my sons. That got me interested in the idea of high carbon steel knives. Now I have quite a few Old Hickory knives for myself (didn't bother changing out the handles bit I did refinish them with poly). I also have two sets of stainless knives and 3 Wustofs, but my favorites are the Old Hickory. It seems like they take and hold an edge better than any of the stainless blades. They also have great balance, at least for me. But then I am 67, retired, and a bit nostalgic (with 2 Remington 1100s and a Winchester 1400 I still grab one of my old side-by-sides when I go dove hunting).
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